Portable scales with their own carrying cases have been known for some time. U.S. Pat. No. 205,684, granted July 2, 1878 to B. F. Rogers, for "Weighing-Scales", U.S. Pat. No. 634,162, granted Oct. 3, 1899, to W. S. Bracktle, for "Portable Weighing Scale", and U.S. Pat. No. 783,329, granted Feb. 21, 1905, to M. A. Sweet, for "Weighing Scale", disclose early examples of such scales. Typical of that era, these scales were made from expensive machined metal parts and included polished wood cases.
With the discovery of lightweight moldable plastic materials it has become possible to miniaturize and further reduce the weight of portable scales so they can be carried in one's pocket and yet display reasonable accuracy in weighing substances or objects. U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,849, granted July 13, 1976, to J. D. Dale and D. G. Knotter for "Lightweight Portable Scale" discloses a scale in which a number of the components thereof are formed of molded plastic material. In an effort to achieve compactness, the scale of the Dale et al patent has a foldable balancing mechanism which permits the mechanism to be stored in a case which is actually smaller than the mechanism when the latter is in use. Unfortunately, the foldable mechanism also imparts complexity and, consequently, higher cost to the scale as well.